Rope lock



April 3, 1951 c. A. BOYER Y, I 2,547,370

ROPE LOCK Filed Nov. 2, 1948 INVENTOR. l 3 (H 5 Charles LBO er' Patented Apr. 3, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT orrlcie ROPE LOCK Charles A. Boyer, Winona Lake, Ind. Application November 2, 194s, serial No. 57,851

This invention relates to a rope lock of Ia type Awhich may advantageously be used when weights,

.cause abrupt'bends in the rope, resulting in rope 1 Claim. (Cl. 24-133) weakening and breakage of bers at the point of Y point of locking contact by providing a flat jaw f having a relatively large friction contactl area, and by eliminating pinching and pressure at places where the rope bends and turns.

The objects of my invention are:

(1) To provide a rope locking device which will'minimize the wear and tear on the rope at the locking point; 4

(2) To provide a rope locking device wherein the locking device can be controlled remotely by means of the rope itself; and

(3) To provide a rope locking device which is emcient,` trouble free, and economical to manufacture.

With reference to the drawing which illustrates the rope lock of my invention in a `preferred form:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view thereof;

Fig. 3 which is a vertical section, taken on line 3f3 of Fig. 2, shows the pendulum sustained upwardly by the rope while in a horizontal position and free to run in or out;

Fig. 4 is a vertical section, similar to Fig. 3,

"'fshowing the free end of the 4rope lowered sufficiently to permit the pendulum to swing down to the point that its eyelet engages opposite sides of the rope for an enhanced frictional contact therewith; and

Fig. 5 is a vertical section, similar to Fig. 3, showing-the rope locked as the result of full engagement therewith by the pendulum jaw on its topsurface and by the coacting base on the under surf-ace of the rope.

` a forward point for interconnection and for support between them of a pin i2 whereon is rotatably mounted a sheave I3. The base is provided Y Ywith one or more` holes 'I4 each to receive Y.a screw or bolt I5 for securingthe frame to a supporting structure S, such as the bow deck of a small boat.

Between the guide walls l I is pivotally suspended, as by apin- 20, a pendulum P which is mounted to swing lengthwise of the frame. This vides a smooth and round edge therefor.

pendulum comprises cheeks 2l which support between` them an elongated relatively flat jaw 22 iat a rearwardly disposed point, as shown. At its forward end the jaw connects with a tongue 23 whose spacing from the pendulum axis is somewhat less than is that of the jaw 22; because of this relationship, the tongue will remain spaced from the base Ill a further distance than the jaw when the latter is swung down into a position of substantial parallelism with the base.

A hole is formed through the tongue and is desirably reenforced with an eyelet 3l which pro- The winternal diameter of the eyelet should be subclearance within the hole is ample to accommodate ropes varying somewhat in diameter. The axial position of the pendulum may also be adjusted, according to the size of the accommodated rope, as by seating the ends of the axial pin 20 in another pair of registering holes 32 located at a different distance from the base of the frame.

Although relatively flat in the direction of its length, the jaw 22 is desirably concave from side to side and provided thereacross with ribs a, also concave from end to end. Such a contour adapts the jaw for better and more effective gripping with the top face of the rope R when brought into engagement therewith. Directly opposite the jaw, when the latter is in engagement with the rope, is a transversely concave area in the base IU provided with concave ribs b extended there'- across. Such a surface is also adapted for better and more elfective engagement with the rope when the latter is pressed down thereupon by the jaw 22 thereabove. Thesecoacting engaging surfaces of the Vjaw and base are sufficiently elongated to aiford Ian extended area of compressive contact with the rope upon opposite faces thereof. When the base of the rope lock is horizontally disposed, as suggested in the drawing, the jaw 22 which is extended outwardly to one side of a vertical line passing through its axis will act as a weight tending to swing the pendulum downwardly to a point where engagement takes place between the jaw and the top of the rope over an lelongated portion thereof. Desirably the pendulum .is light in weight and to this end it may be Vstamped 4from aluminum or one of its alloys.

gated frame. These walls serve to guide the rope so that its relative position through the frame remains substantially unchanged at all times. This is true even though the free end of the rope be held in a position of misalignment relative to the frame.

The locked position of the parts is indicated in Fig. 5. Here it will be noted the jaw 22 is swung down toward the base so that its cross ribs: a are engaged with the top face of the rope whose under face is rested upon the base l0 within the concave area thereof where the cross ribs bare provided. The gripping area, both above and below, is elongated in th-e direction of thero'pe length, and also increased circumferentially thereof due to the transverse concave contours thereof, consequently.v the frictional contact therewith is effectively distributed. Forwardly of the jaw the rope rises from the base and in doing so passes obliquely upwardly, through the hole 30 in the tongue 23 of the pendulum. From this point` on the rope proceeds forwardly over the sheave i3 to connect withiits supported object.

rlhe pull of the rope is resisted by the. jaw 22 which is positonedto the. rear of a line' passing vertically through. the movement axis' of the pendulum. Any further movement of the pendulum, i. e. in a clockwise direction as indicated in Fig. 5, would only apply to the` rope an augmented compressive force tending to secure it more firmly. The hole 30 throughV thev tongue, as shown in Fig. 5 lies forwardly of a'line'extendingvertically through the movement axis of the pendulum; it also lies further removed from-the base than does the jaw 22. There Vis consequently no compression of the rope `either where it enters or leaves the opening except Sucha's is occasioned" by the tension in the rope at these points of bending.

In Fig. 5 I have diagrammed by the dot and dash lines :rand y-ythe endwise limits of the elongated jaw. Here it will be observed that the" jaw lies in its entirety to one side of a vertical line passing through the movement axisA of the pendulum, and furthermore that the outermost portion of the jaw lies` more than 45 away fromy the vertical, thereby placing it in an octant that" is immediately below the horizontal. Asa result, thejaw movement is preponderantly downwardly whenV reaching the locking position of Fig; 5. From this it follows that the jaw ribs a, when in engaging with the rope, will move primarily downwardly so as to minimize objectionable chafing which would otherwise result.

ToY release the lock, the free end of the'rope is lifted to disestablish all contact with the base I0. While this isbeing done, the'rope'will nor; mally remain under tension so `as to take up an initialposition about as indicated'in Fig. 4:' If the rope be further lifted, the pendulum will be raised tothe position of Fig. 3 where-the'rope engages with the hole eyelet 3i at only its'topmost point.

Assuming that the lock is to be operated, the rope is payed out to the desired point while maintained in a position that is substantially horizontal or higher. During this movement the lightweight pendulum is sustained in'an upper position of minimum friction. When the releasing movement of the rope has approached the point where it is to be held, thelfree end of the rope need be 'lowered only slightly-to about the position of. Fig'. 4. Here the pendulum is shown as having swung downwardly to the'point that the hole eyelet 3| is in engaglmllt, With the rope on both its top and underfaces. As a result, the friction of the pendulum on the rope is increased by at least double, thereby greatly enhancing the down pull on the pendulum so as to accelerate and complete locking engagement of its-jaw with the rope. The normal gravity action is, therefore, supplemented by the outpull of the rope when this point is reached, thereby producing a rapid and sure completion of the pendulum movement to the locking position that is desired.

The term pendulum as used herein applies more particularly to the rope locking device when the base is horizontally disposed. It is obvious, of course, that the base may be inclined at various angles, or even be positioned verticallyv in which event the gravity action of the pendulum would be modified; It is contemplated in any such case that the pendulumrmay be Weighted, ifnecessary, to assure'that' it will be gravity'operated inthe manner already described.

A rope lock including a guide frame having a iiatV elongated base and provided with spaced guide walls, and a pendulum pivotally mounted between the guide walls to swing lengthwise of thev frame and comprising spaced cheeks and a connecting bottom consisting of an elongatedk relatively flat jaw extending rearwardly along. the base in parallelism therewith when the pendulum is in engaging position to'produce a long' straight clamping portion, a at tongue constit'utingV an intermediate portion of the bottomof the pendulum` and inclined'upwardly slightly, when the jaw is in parallelismV with the base, to producea slight change in the direction of thez rope and'afront section, the front of the bottom. of the pendulum being disposed in substantially the plane of the tongue and provided with a rope receiving opening 'presenting rounded edges to the rope and producing abrupt bends inthe rope' remote from the-straight clamping portion of` the pendulum, the jaw being concavefrom side to side and provided with an extended area of concave transverse ribsand the4 base being provided with an extended areav of transverse ribs.

CHARLES A. BOYER.

REFERENCESV CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATESY PATENTS Number Name Date 88,057 Middleton Mar. 23, 1869 119,740 Campbell Oct. 10, 1871 497,900 Warner May 23, 1893 524,015 Young Aug. 7, 1894 688,618 Ferris Dec. 10,V 1901. 702,165 Tryon June 10, 1902' 1,167,295 Hall Jan. 4, 1916 1,243,104 v Richardson Oct. 16, 1917 1,399,182 Benedict Dec. 6, 1921 1,692,640l Erickson Nov. 20, 1928 1,710,697 Gilbert Apr. 30, 1929 1,779,430 Gronquist Oct. 28, 1930 1,353,313 Mathis Apr. 12, 1932 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 2,884 orat`1ritain Nov.- 21, 187s of"1873 

